JasonG

Trip: Repulse - Original Date: 9/12/2009 Trip Report: All I have to say is that those Fireys were tough. In September, I was joined by Scott, Tim, and Gord on a Silent Lakes peak bagging extravaganza. Although all of us didn't summit all the peaks, our group managed to get up Fisher, Arriva, Little Johannesberg, and Repulse. I wasn't on Lil' J'berg (write it up Scott!), but I was on Repulse so I thought I would share some photos and a bit of text. Here's the Beauty: Near as we could tell from the summit register, we were the second ascent of the original route, and the 8th party overall (4 parties in 2009 alone!): It was loose, intimidating, and most certainly not our modern definition of 4th class! We found some vintage Cassin pitons left by the Fireys, Scott had the fortune of pulling one out while on rappel (I kept it as a souvenir)- luckily it was backed up. I kicked another one loose and placed it using a rock to back up the next particularly suspect anchor. Fun! This one was pounded with a rock, it rang true: We also had some good times cowering, trying to not get hit by party inflicted rockfall- here are Scott and Tim enjoying a sheltered spot while Gord rappels: And the gang negotiating a particularly fine gully enroute to the the peak: The business end of the climb: The view from the start of the business end: And, the summit views from the apex of chossville: Needless to say, we wouldn't recommend the original route, but the route from the col between Repulse and Hoot Owl (I think?), looks like a promising early season way. This route is the one that most folks have used in recent years, and looks quite quick and direct from the highway. Also, Gordy Skoog reports a new, moderate route on the north rib of the peak- "Fun route, Good Rock, 5.6 III". I would like to hear how it went . . .. Details? Anyway, for those that have driven by this peak often and wondered, you could be the 9th ascent!

Trip: Spickard - NW Ridge Date: 7/27/2009 Trip Report: Well, it sounded good . . .but turned out to be quite loose, and a bit on the sketchy side. The route traverses the right skyline in the photo below- We were up in Depot Creek for an extended trip during the infamous heat wave of 2009, and a loop over the top of Spickard sounded better than going up and down the regular route (the glacier was in poor shape with lots of exposed ice). In hindsight we would have had more fun if we stuck with the standard way . . .Oh well. It was quite spectacular though . . . The first problem we found is that the route description is just plain wrong. Beckey talks about staying on the south side of the ridge, but that clearly wasn't going to happen. Very steep, loose, and a lot of 5th class. The north side wasn't any more solid, but it was a little less exposed, and easier to traverse (still some low-mid 5th). We had many gendarmes to traverse and one spot where we had to do a single rappel. At times, we used the old growth lichen to our advantage, and full body frictioned across some exposed blank bits. Good times! We never saw any evidence of passage, so I don't think this route gets done much. Good views, though, so I really shouldn't be such a whiner. It took us quite awhile to work up the ridge (~5 hrs), much longer than we thought it would given the description. I think there is a semi-epic sounding TR from the 80's on Bivouac.com, so I doubt we are the first to underestimate it. Anyway, I'm probably making this sound worse that it actually was. I'm certainly no hardman! Gear Notes: Brought 60m half rope, slings, tat, small rack (not much pro). Crampons and axe handy for lower snow slopes. Approach Notes: Thanks to whomever cleared out the trail this past year. Would you please keep that up? Don't listen to the park service rangers!

Great shovel, but I have others, so don't really need this one. As mentioned in the title, it has never been used, and telescopes for your digging comfort. I'm up in Mount Vernon, but could drive it south or north for a serious buyer. Shoot me a PM if interested . . .Thanks!

Thanks for the kind words Phil (we should get out again sometime!) . .. and also thanks to all the folks who packed the house at the Mountaineers yesterday for TJ's memorial service. The stories told by his many friends and family were heart warming, funny, and provided great insight into a life fully lived. True to TJ's spirit, we invaded the Six Arms afterwards and continued the remembrances over beers. Just how TJ would have wanted it .. . -JG

Just an update to set the story straight. The news outlets have most of the details wrong, and TJ deserves better. Tim called me Thursday morning (10/8) to get my thoughts on whether or not to call in a rescue for TJ. He had left the previous Sunday for a trip over Little Giant pass with the intention of climbing Clark, Luahna, and Buck. TJ discussed with Tim his probable route choices and itinerary, mentioned that he was likely going to do a couple of long days from a camp in the Napeequa. Monday he was going to climb Clark from the south side and traverse over to Luahna and probably climb the SW slope, before descending Butterfly Butte back to the river and his camp. Tuesday was going to be a climb of Buck via High Pass or Louis creek and then back out via Little Giant. Due to how ambitious this plan was, Tim thought that TJ probably wouldn't have gotten out until Wednesday, but became concerned when he hadn't heard from him by Wednesday night. After our short conversation on Thurs. AM, Tim called it in and started things rolling. The initial callout to Chelan SAR had a limited response, so I called some friends at Skagit SAR to see what could be done. A few more calls back and forth between various SAR groups and the plan was set to meet at the Little Giant TH Friday morning at 8am. I convoyed over with four Skagit SAR folks and met Tim and a growing crew of friends bright and early at the TH. Hikers had reported seeing TJ's bivy near the Napeequa river and tracks leading to Buck Mtn (on Wednesday), and a helo flight on Thursday had seen track high on the south slope of Clark. TJ's car was still at the TH. Not a lot to go on, but it was a start. We had to wait awhile for Chelan SAR to show up on Friday, and when they did, they didn't seem to have a plan. Collectively we tried to cobble one together as quickly as possible- the Skagit SAR folks were instrumental in kicking things up a notch. Thanks guys! It turns out that Chelan's helo wasn't available till the afternoon, and even then they didn't want to insert non-SAR folks. This probably would have been fine if there were a lot of SAR folks present, but there were only about 7 available for insert and we had a LOT of real estate to cover. We marked on their maps the approximate routes we felt TJ would be on, and explained that he was experienced enough that it was unlikely that he would be anywhere else. Two teams started hiking in to Little Giant (one SAR, one friends), and two teams (both friends) drove over to the White River to start up to Boulder Pass. Two teams (both SAR) were held back for a later insert high on Buck. I was in the advance team to Boulder Pass (along with Tim and Kirk) and tried to keep up with Tim as he set the usual blistering pace. We ran into the backpackers who had reported sighting the bivy, they recanted on the tracks part of their story and said that they hadn't really seen anyone in the last couple of days. We took it down to relay to base once we were in radio range. We arrived at Boulder Pass in the late afternoon, dropped stuff and headed up to check out the Walrus Gl and access to the south side of the ridge. We didn't see any sign of human tracks in the snow on the glacier, or on a possible gully route to the south side. We did scope our route around the south side of Clark for the next day, and got a good view of the Butterfly Butte descent. Our plan for Saturday was to climb the south side of Clark, check for any summit register, traverse over to climb Luahna, and descend Butterfly Butte to a camp in the Napeequa. It would be a long day. Friday night was cold (~20F), and a helo equipped with IR did a flyover of all the summits during the night. Nothing. Damn. After a fitful night, Tim and I (Kirk wasn't feeling well) headed up in the dawn gloom to Clark. After crossing to the south side of the ridge we ascended too high and had to drop to find the 7300' crossing of the SE ridge of the false summit. Here is where we ran into TJ's tracks for the first time. They were one-way tracks heading to Clark. About this time, a team from Bellingham SAR were inserted below us, their intent was to climb up and help search our Clark-Luahna route. Rather than wait (the insert looked to be about an hour away), Tim and I bombed down the gully following the tracks over towards Clark. We picked up his tracks again about 8100' on the south side of Clark and followed them upwards. At a notch a hundred feet or so below the summit the tracks dropped away towards Luahna. There was not snow on the final bit to the summit, but we knew that TJ must have visited the summit before heading to Luahna. Tim and I dropped our packs and dashed up to the summit to check if he had signed in. No register, thus no idea of when he signed in (we guessed it would have been Monday). Back at our packs, we scanned for the B'ham SAR folks but couldn't see them. We requested additional resources be inserted ahead of us (or a least some detailed helo search time), but it didn't sound like they were going to send any our way. Not real pleased to be the only folks covering such a big area, Tim and I headed as fast as we could down along TJ's tracks towards Luahna. There were some sketchy parts below the notch (snow over icy rock), and Tim and I were not liking our overnight packs. It mellowed after we got out of the snow and we followed faint tracks in the scree. Along the way we got a good view of the Richardson Gl. and saw no tracks leading to the east ridge of Luahna. This narrowed our search to the SW side of Luahna and we dropped our packs at a notch with Richarson Gl. access (we still planned to descend to Butterfly Butte). We heard over the radio that the B'ham SAR folks were not able to get to Clark because people in their party were uncomfortable with the terrain. Bummed about not getting help, we took the radio, some food, and the binos and traversed around to the SW gully route on Luahna (http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=816480) and began our search. Before heading up towards the summit, we went to a cliff edge and scanned the face above us along with the talus field below. It didn't take Tim long to spot TJ's jacket a couple hundred feet below us. Damn. Tim went down to check out the scene while I climbed up to the ridge to get a radio call out to base. I relayed the jacket's position and requested a helo ASAP to scan the talus field. Watching Chelan's helo hover over the talus field, it was heartbreaking to hear the helo "confirm" that we had found TJ and hear them request the Huey for a winch extraction. I hiked down to meet Tim as he was coming back up from saying goodbye to TJ. Although not totally unexpected after so many days without contact, it was still hard to believe that TJ was really gone. We didn't bother going to the summit to see if he had signed in, it didn't really matter at that point. The Huey came in shortly to begin the extraction and Tim and I hiked down to a LZ to be flown out. Back at Base, sitting with Tim, TJ, and Terry (his dad) was by far the hardest part of the whole hard day. As a father myself, I find it hard to fathom seeing your child dead and broken. From what we could see, it appears that TJ took about a 1000' foot fall from very near the summit. He and his gear were found at about 7400' below the W-SW side of Luahna. He could not have survived the fall, so we were somewhat comforted by the fact that he didn't slowly succumb to exposure alone while we were screwing around with rescue plans. How/where exactly/why he fell will probably never be know, but it looked like he fell from some pretty exposed loose terrain. Hold broke? Slipped? Off route? This whole incident really drives home Jake's question: "How many of us could that have been?" TJ was one of the first people I ever swapped leads with; we thought we were so cool when we climbed our first multi-pitch route together- R&D! Placing actual gear- on lead! It is fun to remember cruising over to L-worth in his powder blue bug, listening to tunes- the sort of stuff that pulls us back to the hills time and time again. His optimism, humor, and overflowing enthusiasm will be sorely missed. RIP TJ . . .. -Jason Griffith

Here is a picture of TJ, probably wearing the pack he has with him right now: He's in the middle, block out the jokers on either side: Keep your eyes peeled if you are in the area! Thanks- Jason

Hey all- The Anacortes City Council is having a meeting to discuss the draft 2009 ACFL Comp Plan: http://www.cityofanacortes.org/parks/documents/comp_plans/acfl_parks_comp_plan.pdf Although dry, you can skim it pretty quick. Both the Access Fund and WA Climbers Coalition (Thanks Joe and Andy!) have concerns with the draft as it is now written. Basically, there is a provision to review and potentially close some access paths and also new routers will have to apply to a "committee" before they can install bolts. For groups that instruct there is a new $5 million dollar insurance requirement that will functionally shut most volunteer-based organizations (like WAC, Mountaineers, Skagit Alpine Club, etc.) out of Mt Erie. Anyway, the city council will be taking comments on 9/8/09 at 7:30 pm in city hall. Written comments (email is fine) have to been in by 5pm on 9/8 to Jonn Lundsford (JonnL@cityofanacortes.org) at the City of Anacortes. I hope to see some folks there! Cheers, Jason Griffith

Hmmm, when we did it in September a couple years ago, it was pretty much dry (tiny bit of wetness, but didn't get in the way of climbing). But then again, I seem to remember it as more of an overlap that you move around to the right. It could be that we climbed some sort of variation and didn't climb the same 5.9 layback mentioned above. We just started at the toe of the face and climbed up till we hit the 4th class area where you traverse right. As far as continuing up into the chimney (instead of traversing), it looks hard! I would like to hear what is it like if anyone has done it. . .. JG

I guess I'm in the minority, I thought it was actually pretty good. The key is to throw the topo away and climb it late in the year when dry. It also helps to climb over Marble Needle after the climb, leaving you with a couple of rappels and an easy snow walk back to the bivy at the notch. BTW we didn't find any 5.9, the 5.8 hand traverse was the hardest part we encountered. In talking with Lowell, they had to guess at the grade when aiding a wet bit (calling it 5.9). I think I know the part they aided and it felt no harder than 5.8. Don't take it off the list Mike! JG

OK, here are some photos finally . .. Needless to say, the views make this a pretty special traverse.

Have any of yous climbed it? I realize that it probably won't be great, but want to make sure that it isn't dangerous, terrifying, and/or terribly tricky. Thanks for any info!

I'll try and add some tonight . . .

Trip: Torment-Forbidden - Traverse Date: 7/15/2009 Trip Report: Just a quick conditions update for those heading out in the next bit. The snow traverses are getting exciting for those with just aluminum crampons and a single axe. Some bare ice exposed and a lot of shallow sugary snow over ice. Pickets were useless, screws OK, but not great in the old neve. Otherwise the route is in great shape, just be prepared for snaffle battles at the bivy before the long snow traverse. We were surrounded by three! That's never happened to me before (usually only one at a time), my partner even had one jump off the wall and land fully on his face- Yikes! Another bummer was getting caught in a major newbie traffic jam on the west ridge, on a Wednesday no less. Oh well, still an awesome route with plenty of challenges to keep it interesting. Gear Notes: 2 screws, medium rack to 2", single axe, aluminum crampons, picket (didn't use). Should have had rat traps. Approach Notes: BB trail to S. Ridge of Torment, descended down east ledges of Forbidden

Trip: Monte Cristo - N. Col Date: 6/27/2009 Trip Report: A little dated, but there aren't many TRs in the database for this one. . . . A couple of Saturdays ago, Tim and I got a leisurely start on the approach from Barlow pass, which is in pretty good shape. A log crossing over the Sauk added some interest. From the old Monte Cristo townsite, you follow the good but steep trail to Glacier Basin and get a good look at the objective. Like most parties, we approached via the obvious notch in the left skyline. Right now it is mostly snow covered all of the way, and is easy (if a bit steep in places) going up to the notch. From the notch we traversed too far south to the gully described in Beckey. We encountered a bit of moat action and some 5.6ish rock, certainly a little more than we expected (we had traversed too far). Another party found a better way closer to the col that still had fifth class climbing but was much shorter(~30' total) and led to an easy ramp that could be scrambled to the summit. This option had fixed slings and a bolt, and should be easily visible as you traverse past. We thought that the moat looked too bad there, but didn't investigate closely- we should have. It was quite easy with a nice dry ledge to step onto and belay from. Either way, bring a small rack for roped climbing and don't expect to scramble the whole way to the summit. Views were great, as was the descent- fast! I think it took us around 9 hrs RT including about an hour on the summit. It is a fun little day climb, with enough variety to make for a good day out. Wilman's Spires from Glacier Basin Glacier Basin from the summit Pugh, Whitechuck, and Sloan from the summit Tim at the North Col. Gear Notes: Bikes, axe, crampons, half rope, very small rack. Approach Notes: see above

Just bumping this back to the top . . ..Thanks for any info!

Hard to say . . .There are a lot of cliff bands and steep snow up near Monte Cristo. Could have been on Wilman's too . . ..

I'm hoping someone can help here. There was an accident yesterday on Terror involving the party Jason Schilling was in (he was not injured). An injured climber was flown out to B'ham and is expected to make a full recovery. Due to weather, the park service was unable to fly Jason out (but left him a radio). Since he will be delayed in coming out, the park service is asking for contact info so his friends and family aren't worried. If anyone knows who would be the best contact they can either PM me or call the Park Service directly at 360 854-7249. Thanks a bunch!!!

Kayak Point is the only public access on the SnoCo side with a beach. You are indeed talking about Warm Beach but it is all private, with no public beach access. It is a great beach, but most of the lots extend fairly far into the intertidal so you can't really access by it boat either. A public beach of similar character (but not as nice, muddier) can be found over on Camano at Iverson county park. It really is a bummer that you can own tidelands in WA state . . ..

Mr. Roper forwarded me this excellent photo showing the South (highest peak in the center background) and SW Peaks of Hozomeen along with our approach gully. The col where we bivied is just out of view. Taken from Little Jackass Mountain. Thanks John! Oh, and here is a photo of the North Peak on the approach. SW buttress is the left skyline. Wow!

Trip: South Hozomeen - SW Route Date: 5/31/2009 Trip Report: Beckey's description sounded easy enough- 14 hour RT with some brush, steep snow, and mostly 4th class rock with a little 5.6. He even said that early season was the best time, and here we had a beautiful weekend at the end of May to play with. It was off to South Hozomeen for Tim, Gord and myself! After the long but scenic drive from home to Canada and back to the US, we arrived at a mostly empty TH, except for a couple of dayhikers. As we were about to set off, we ran into John Roper and company heading out for a scramble of Little Jackass. They kindly showed us a potential FA on our map, to which Gord replied "that's not our style". Ever the gracious trio, they gave us a little info about the peak, and the standard route. I heard someone say something about a "sketchy" bit, but tried to ignore it. The mostly mellow and great tread of the first four miles to Hozomeen lake had us thinking we were pretty cool. A quick lunch at the lake with great views didn't hurt either. But all good things come to an end, and soon we were shwacking around the lake trying to find the "path" in the Beckey guide. Hmmmmmm. Soon our spirits were lifted at the sight of the "gully" that promised to take us up all the way to the bivy at the col. They weren't lifted very long, though, as we got to a tough bit that stopped us cold. Thrashing climbers right, we found a rib alongside the gully that provided good travel to around 5000', where we traversed back through brush to rejoin the gully. Great, we thought, it is smooth sailing on snow from here to the col! And it was, for awhile. Then the snow got steeper, and thinner, and the rock slabbier. It wasn't too bad getting to the col, but it wasn't too good either. Tim got hit by rockfall at a very inopportune time (while standing on a slabby exposed ledge above a big drop), but was lucky. We continued upward. Eventually, after about 7.5 hours, we made it to the 6900'+ foot col between the South and SW peaks and scouted around for a bivy. The sites weren't great, be we were whupped and hungry. We began to suspect that 14 hours wasn't quite going to do it for us. The next day dawned clear, and we had great views as we scrambled fourth class rock to a high point above the bivy. The North Peak of Hozomeen: At the top of this point we had a look at the route, and it was pretty disheartening. A VERY exposed downclimb, to a steep snow gully, to a steep snow traverse, to some more 3rd and 4th scrambling, to some rotten steep 5th class stuff near the summit. Yikes! I just about turned around, but Tim was so positive about the adventure ahead that I couldn't bring myself to do it. Soon, Tim was leading the charge to the summit. He lead the "12 foot 5.6" with style, considering there was absolutely no pro and a nice ledge to fall on. He kept muttering about how this was just like gritstone with a British accent, so at least Gord and I were entertained while we were scared. So that's how, even though we aren't real skilled, we kept at it long enough to reach the top (about 3 hrs from camp) I know it is hard to believe, but South Hozomeen isn't climbed very much. The register was placed in 1990, and we were the fifth party to sign in (1990, 1993, 2006, 2007, 2009). Extrapolate that back to the first ascent, and you are maybe talking 20-30 parties? Of course that is all well and good, but we had to get down for it to really count. The descent back to camp was actually a lot better than we were expecting, with two 30m rappels to get us past the worst of it. I did get bruised by some rockfall, but it could have been a lot worse. There was still plenty of exposed downclimbing though, where a fall would not be good. We made it back to camp in the early afternoon and packed up, not relishing the bash back down to the lake. At my insistence (I remembered the rockfall from the day before, and my family) we did two 30m rappels from the col down to some steep snow. A bit of messing around on thin snow over slabs had us down in boot skiable terrain pretty quick, and into the brush sooner than we would have liked. We made it back to the cars about 6:30 pm, pretty tired after a 13 hour day. Our time for the weekend, ~21 hours, certainly not sub-Beckey! So, if you want the full meal deal, South Hozomeen can deliver. Especially if you like things along the lines of the Southern Pickets or J-Berg . . .. you'll have a grand time. Just make sure you say hello to the register, it's lonely. Gear Notes: Axe, crampons, 60m half rope, small rack, tat to back up anchors because it is years between ascents. Approach Notes: Beckey's description is pretty good, but we avoided the gully for a section that looked darn hard to climb up. On the way down, we mostly avoided the narrow part of the gully and cut the corner to the lake. Quite brushy!

With the soft snow conditions we experienced, it was pretty easy to descend the gully after doing a couple of rappels and some down climbing on the ridge. If the south side of the ridge was melted out, and the gully was quite icy, it might be better to head over to the col. I guess it depends on conditions . . .

Trip: Sherpa - Northeast Couloir to East Ridge Date: 5/17/2009 Trip Report: I don't have much detail to add to MCash's excellent TR from a few years ago: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=468621 But . . . it is a great route that deserves more attention from those looking for a fun spring outing. You just might want to go a little later than we did this year (although in most years it would probably be perfect timing). A fair bit of snow and ice on the rock made for tedious/scary going in the heat. The gully was in fat shape though, making for a fast ascent/descent. Having both been to the top before, Tim and I stopped at the summit rap station due to a sketchy snow blob on the summit slab. What can I say, I'm a dad now. Some Pics: Argonaut on the walk in. Tim stayed in the basin and climbed its excellent gully route on Monday with another friend. Stuart A look at the route from close up. Obvious gully to left skyline. Tim charging up the gully On the summit ridge Sherpa balanced rock gives props to Jens Don't forget your spoon! The post holing was epic Gear Notes: Half rope, a few pieces of rock gear, helmet, axe, crampons (didn't use). Approach Notes: Mountaineer Creek, stay left. Although we didn't do this variation, I hear it is fun to opt for the boulder field rather than staying on the valley floor- esp. in spring

“Climate History of the Skagit Valley” photos: Austin Post (left) and John Scurlock Jon Riedel Geologist- North Cascades National Park June 4, 2009 - 7:30 pm Walter Roberts Hall - T-31 - Skagit Valley College Please join us at this month’s alpine club meeting as we welcome geologist Jon Riedel to share about his work in the park. Jon’s presentation will focus on his research documenting how the climate has changed in the Skagit valley over the past 30,000 years. Through data he’s gathered examining local glaciers and their deposits, Jon will highlight five specific time periods where glacier moraines, buried wood, lake sediments, and macrofossils provide detailed records of the past climate. If you have ever wondered about how glaciers and climate have shaped the Skagit Valley, this is sure to be an interesting presentation. Jon’s presentation will follow our regular business meeting at 7pm. For more information please check out the park’s glacier monitoring webpage at: http://www.nps.gov/noca/naturescience/glacial-mass-balance1.htm Campus map: http://www.skagit.edu/images/color_mvCampus.pdf

"Backcountry Skiing in the Desert Southwest" Steve Barnett, May 7, 2009 7:30 pm Skagit Valley College The Skagit Alpine Club is pleased to host guidebook author and backcountry ski legend Steve Barnett at this month's meeting. With a ski career spanning more than three decades, Steve has hunted down touring opportunities all over North America. He was one of the leaders of the modern tele resurrection in the 1970's, writing the seminal how-to book entitled "Cross Country Downhill" in 1979. For this presentation, Steve will be sharing some unique touring areas he has visited in the desert Southwest. Stretching from Zion to the Grand Canyon to Baja California, these destinations are sure to pique the interest of folks who love to ski sunny slopes amongst improbable scenery. Please join us as Steve shares some great stories and images! We will be meeting in Walter Roberts Hall - T-31. Steve will go on after our regular business meeting at 7pm. The following shortcut is to a campus map: http://www.skagit.edu/images/color_mvCampus.pdf.

OK, so the deal fell through and this stuff is still for sale. Please shoot me a PM if you are interested.